Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688

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A big historical advance. Ours, it turns out, is a very un-insular "Island Story". And its 17th-century chapter will never look quite the same again' John Adamson, Sunday Times Extraordinary ... one of those perception-changing books of British history which only come along every few decades' Andrew Marr

Celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Wolfson History Prize include a series of free events, in partnership with BBC History Magazine, which will see expert panels discuss key themes in history. Two live events, recorded for the HistoryExtra podcast, will explore ‘History and Science’ and ‘History, Empires and Global Histories’, with panellists including historians Olivette Otele and Sanjoy Bhattacharya, previous Wolfson History Prize winner Sudhir Hazareesingh, shortlisted authors, Toby Green and Lindsey Fitzharris, and chair of judges David Cannadine. Two further conversations on ‘History and the Holocaust’ and ‘History and Religion’ will also be released as exclusive episodes of the popular podcast. Following an introductory chapter foreshadowing the alleged incomprehension with which English politics was viewed by foreign ambassadors and visitors in the period from 1588 to 1688, the first chapter discusses the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 after nineteen years’ imprisonment in England. This is described as the first regicide by royalty, with Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I both being granddaughters of Henry VII, and Mary being a Scottish queen and widow of a French king, but considered ineligible to succeed to the English throne as she was Roman Catholic. I also had not taken on board (or remembered) that the king of Scotland, James VI, was Mary’s son (but Protestant) and that it had been agreed that he was to succeed Elizabeth upon her death (which he did in 1603). Elizabeth was reviled abroad as “an immoral, heretic bastard, responsible for Mary’s death.” For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. There are some difficulties with this approach. For one thing, such quantities of testimony are hard to contextualise in depth. The people who reacted with outrage to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 were frequently very different in outlook from those who condemned the upheavals of civil war or the execution of Charles I. United in condemnation they may have been, but Spanish disapproval could be far removed from Dutch criticism, and the differences in these people’s identities and political agendas is at times rather lost to sight as the litany of disasters unfolds. They were also not always very discerning: the Dutch theologian who classed the British Civil Wars of the 1640s alongside revolt in Catalonia and an earthquake in North Africa was painting a picture that was vivid but not especially coherent. b) the links (by marriage of course) of England and its throne with Holland and Germany - which explains the Hanoverians arriving and I suppose Prince Philip etc etc; since they were Protestant whereas France and Spain were CatholicDissecting a nation’s endemic fears, anxieties and insecurities, Devil-Land’s account is bookended by two foreign invasion attempts. It opens in the late years of Elizabeth I’s reign which saw a vast Spanish fleet, comprising over 130 ships, 7,000 sailors, 17,000 soldiers and around 1,300 officials enter the English Channel in August 1588, hoping to rendezvous with Philip II of Spain’s nephew, Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, who would bring an invasion force of 27,000 Habsburg soldiers across from Flanders to land in Kent. Spanish ambitions were frustrated by summer storms and poor communications, and the scattered Armada embarked on a circuitous return journey via northern Scotland, western Ireland and the Bay of Biscay, during which a third of its ships sank, and over half of its sailors and soldiers drowned or died from starvation or being lynched on beaches. Devil-Land concludes its account, a century later, with another foreign seaborn invasion that did succeed: when William of Orange’s force of around 400 ships, 15,000 soldiers and 3,000-4,000 horses landed at Torbay in Devon on 5 November 1688, prompting his Catholic uncle and father-in-law, King James VII & II, to flee to Louis XIV’s France.

Finally, I was fascinated to read of the funeral arrangements of Prince Henry, the golden-haired eldest son of James I and Anna. During the body’s month of lying in state prior to the funeral, ten courtiers attended him throughout, bringing in three meals a day. All of which sounds remarkably like Bronze Age burials. Celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Wolfson History Prize include a series of free events , which will see expert panels discuss key themes in history. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.I think, however, her account of Scotland’s James VI’s intrigues to become England’s James I (and of Elizabeth I’s opacity on the matter of her successor) is more complete than anything I have read elsewhere. It is apparent that Cromwell was regarded as even more of a bumpkin by the courts of Europe: he had, after all, no connection to the high aristocracy and was apparently monolingual (although as a student of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, he must have had functional Latin). I’m delighted and deeply honoured to have won the Wolfson History Prize which recognises historical writing that combines academic scholarship with accessibility for a broad readership. It’s thrilling to join the hugely distinguished list of previous Prizewinners and to share in the celebrations of the Wolfson History Prize’s special 50 th anniversary year.